I'd say go with Tanchjim stuff — Nora, Fission, Bunny, Origin, Force... they all have a fairly neutral-ish tonality.
In my opinion, they’re a safer recommendation than the Hexa. The Hexa is really divisive — people don’t seem to agree on how it sounds. Maybe it’s the odd hexagonal shell shape, but there’s a lot of variation in impressions. Nobody agrees on the sound. You got like 75% of people saying it has no bass and 25% saying it has the perfect amount of bass. Quite a number of people (myself included) just don’t like it.
Go for Tanchjim instead. You really can’t go wrong with Fission. It's very very close to the Tanchjim Origin which is an awesome IEM.
Yes, Nora is basically a mini Origin, atleast according to my ears and it does vocal quite well (very good for jpop or anime songs atleast).
I had a chance to compare Nora with Origin and I had to really nitpick and really try hard to notice a difference.
I vibe with both, but for me, they serve different use cases. Truthear Nova is a balanced all-rounder, meanwhile, Tanchjim Nora feels more genre-specific.
I would personally use the Nora solely for J-Pop, Anisong, or anything heavy on female vocals.
I was actually thinking about grabbing Tanchjim Nora the other day to compliment my TE Nova but I didn't do that.
These are what I feel are the best at their respective price points for 2025 releases(though older releases may be the best overall). Only included what I've tried, so there may be better out there.
Bang for buck: Truthear Pure/Plunge Audio Unity Dynamic/Yu9 Que
Best bass quality: Dita Mecha
Best vocals: Letshuoer Mystic 8, Tanchjim Nora
Best treble quality: Moondrop Meteor
Most musical: ISN EST80
Most lifelike: Dita Mecha
Disappointment:
Craftears Omnium Ti, not because it's bad, just that midrange is too pushed back for my liking.
Volk Audio Etoille- driver flex🥲 sounds great tho.
Nice writeup, I just disagree with "sole objective winner", since at the end of the day these are your subjective impressions.
I had the Kima 2 which I sold for the Fission, which was sold to get Pure, then sold cuz of BA timbre to get the Nora, and now I'm selling the Nora to get another Kima 2 cuz none could beat it's musicality. I had **the one** right from the start... Give it a shot if you want something warm but brighter than Pure, not dry like the Fission, and natural timbre.
Full review in: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/tanchjim-nora.28398/reviews#review-39437
Nora, the latest Single DD offering from the house of TANCHJIM encompasses the same DMT5 driver that’s present in their flagship product Origin. This time, the brand went with a more minimalistic design approach where the body is made out of plastic while the faceplate being aluminium with a tempered glass front. The design undergone a lot of R&D representing a pressure relief design, a proper resonant chamber etc. Regardless of the materials used, the product feels and looks premium enough. The stock cable however feels premium that does comes with interchangeable termination which is included in the package.
Nora is another chapter for Tanchjim, where now it’s more of a culmination of all the Tanchjim sets available in the market namely the Bunny, 4U, Ola, One, Fission, Hana and Zero. It’s basically a refined version of all these budget-mid tier predecessors.
It’s minimalistic and functional where there’s no tuning switches or replaceable filters, it’s just pure stock sound that leans more towards a balanced profile with analogue tint in its presentation. It’s natural, vivid and got that realistic warmth that never feels boosted or artificial. The forward and engaging mid-section accompanied with that controlled treble profile while maintaining that realistic tone makes the Nora an applaudable IEM. It’s technically competent enough which can be seen through its holographic stage and good transient response.
For me, Nora is the best release in the mid-tier segment as of now from Tanchjim that ticks all the boxes. It’s CLEAR-CUT ANALOGUE sonic capability makes this my primary choice.
Pros:
1) Balanced Sound Profile
2) Tight and Faster Analogue Bass Profile
3) Forward Mid-Section (Tonally Accurate)
4) Controlled Treble Extension
5) Holographic Staging
6) Stock Cable with interchangeable terminations
Cons:
1) Unforgiving to poorly mastered tracks.
2) Occasional Hotness in Upper Mid (Source Dependent)
DISCLAIMER:
This unit was provided to me by my good friend Melody from Tanchjim in exchange for my honest opinion of the product. The whole views are based on my observations with the product and is not an influenced one.
BellGeek
